On Thursday night Shields and Carcer City came to Birmingham as part of the Revival Tour. The show was at the Oobleck in Digbeth’s Custard Factory. The show had not been promoted very well, so it was good to see there was still a decent turnout.
Birmingham-based metal band Hung Drawn Quartered [7/10] kicked the evening off. The audience was a decent size considering they were the first band on.
Next up was Opheon [7/10], also from the Birmingham area. Their sound was very technical, mixing of old school metal with metalcore influences. It was impressive how their frontman was able to sing, scream, and shred on his guitar all to a high standard. However, their set suffered from some technical difficulties; the microphones for the backing vocals were not working properly. Still, they put on a good performance.
The audience had filled out by the time metalcore band Their Souls For Gold [8/10] came onstage. At first, the sound mix was off, with the lead guitar too low in the mix, but this was thankfully remedied. Additionally, the microphone problems Opheon encountered continued, which unfortunately made it nearly impossible to hear the rhythm guitarist’s clean vocals. Their frontman was an incredible vocalist, doing both high and low growls with astounding stamina. The band played two covers in addition to their own songs: ‘Dear G-d’ by Being As An Ocean and ‘I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made of’ by A Day To Remember. Those who were familiar with the first song got very into it, but more audience members recognized the ADTR song. The only major critique of their set was that the clean vocals their bassist sang did not quite match the band’s general style. Overall, their set was enjoyable and served as a good warm-up for the bigger bands of the night.
Then it was time for Shields [10/10] to take the stage. They opened up with ‘Jordan,’ off their recently released EP Guilt. Their set was so solid throughout that it is difficult to find any critiques. Despite the complexity of their songs, they sounded just as good live as they do on record. The band had put clear thought into their setlist, going from one song to the next smoothly. Vocalist Joe Edwards was a dynamic frontman, which made them more interesting to watch. If anything, their set could have been a little bit longer, but as they do not currently have much of a back catalog, the brevity was unsurprising. Shields finished with an extended version of their single ‘I Just Feel Hate.’
Finally Liverpool natives Carcer City [10/10] came on stage. The band said it was by far the biggest audience they had ever played to in Birmingham, so they must have been excited when a number of audience members sang along to every song. They played their new song ‘Sovereign,’ which is about how everyone will die someday so it is important to live life to the fullest. One of the things that made them so exciting to watch was their frontman Patrick Pinon’s captivating stage presence, dancing and interacting frequently with the audience. The audience backed them throughout their set, singing along and dancing. They closed with another song off their forthcoming album.
Overall it was a fantastic evening of music. Both headliners were spectacular live acts, more energetic and interactive than many larger names. The Oobleck was the perfectly sized venue to house the show.
